New Comic Novel Makes Fun of Paranoia

    /24-7PressRelease/ - SANTA MONICA, CA, August 07, 2008 - Boychik lit novelist Gerald Everett Jones has produced his second book about bad-boy genius Rollo Hemphill, a recovering computer hacker who now fears the Secret Government is out to get him. "Paranoia is just a heightened state of awareness," Rollo quips bravely in Jones's latest novel, "Rubber Babes."

Second in the series of Rollo Hemphill's pathetic pursuits of happiness, "Rubber Babes" finds the hapless former car jockey settled down in the happily-ever-after. He's married the comely Felicia Ferrulo, the Sicilian hottie of his dreams, whom he tricked into paying attention to him in "My Inflatable Friend" by driving a lifesized doll around town to make her jealous. His former life as a sniveling valet in a swank Beverly Hills hotel seems ancient history now, as he leverages his failed career as a shock-jock deejay to become the Keppelhoffer Foundation's director. It's a cushy job with a six-figure salary arranged for him by his former nemesis, retired soap-star Monica LaMonica.

Rollo's marriage seems shaky from the start, and matters aren't helped by the titillating attentions of the gorgeous assistant at his new job, Valerie Valhalla. The misguided Rollo seeks consolation with a succession of women he calls "rubber babes," meaning "protection mandatory." He eventually realizes he's clueless both as an executive running a charity and as a romantic partner. For one thing, it takes him far too long to discover that Keppelhoffer's Syndrome is an extremely rare and bizarre form of male dysfunction and that the multimillion-dollar charity itself may be little more than a money laundry for payoff s to Big Pharma and crooked politicians.

Paula Berenstein, host of The Writing Show podcast (www.writingshow.com) raves: "Woody Allen meets Nick Hornby in this hilarious beach read. Gerald Everett Jones, who is every bit as clever as Larry David (and has more hair!), has created a witty, literate George Costanza for us to savor. NBC, are you paying attention?"

Claiming he was inspired by the satiric novels of Peter De Vries, author Jones blogs on the topic of male-centered comic fiction at Boychik Lit (www.boychiklit.com). "Rubber Babes: Further Misadventures of Rollo Hemphill" is currently on sale at booksellers in the U.S. and U.K.

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